Just look at those thick legs with meathooks for toes. I am totally staying on this side of the fence.

You can hear the Jurassic Park theme music from here.

Absolute Jurassic Park.

How do you draw dinosaur feet? That’s what all the cool kids are asking these days. To tell the truth, we are sort of photo hounds around 4 Dog Arts and use a lot of comparing reference photos for drawings and illustrations. Reference photos are your friends! There are lots of different theropods to go around and they have lots of different foot structures. For this example, we’re going to use some reference photos from a wildlife preserve.

This is a cassowary. These flightless beasts are native to the tropical forests of New Guinea and Northeastern Australia. (And appear about anywhere you’d rather not have them not tap dance on your garden.) Don’t let that colorful face deceive you, it’s second only to the ostrich in weight and packs quite a punch. Long and strong bare quills hang from the bird’s little wings. It didn’t survive to today because it’s good tempered and easy to get along with.

Fun side fact. If you’ve ever giggled smugly as to why there was a big roof on this flightless bird’s cage, it is because the cassowary can jump nearly 7 feet straight into the air. (Near as makes no difference, over 2 meters.) It also swims like a gold medalist. And it lays green eggs. Anything with that sort of resume is going to be pretty solitary and that’s maybe for the best.​Feel free to use these references. We love references. Did we mention that? Dinosaur feet sketches included.